Woah Leonard, I didn’t see you there.

So Hallelujah is making history, for the first time in 51 years the same song has sat in the first and second rankings of the singles chart. I was expecting Alexandra Burke to take the prize, suspected Jeff Buckely of making top ten and he again outdos my expectations of him; however, what I did not consider was people buying the Leonard Cohen original, enough to put it into the top 40 for the first time, the original came in at 36.

That is frankly remarkable, has there ever been 3 versions of a song in the charts at the same time? It appears the X-Factor is making the populous wake up and smell the chords of some much better artists. Alexandra Burke may have got 576,000 singles sold but that doesn’t mean she is as talented as the other two. I also feel it shows just how powerful the media and especially the internet is at getting lots of people riled up and encouraged to go do something, its been commented on lots of time, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a “Let’s make an old single / comedy song / outlier a number one for Christmas” that must have got a few hundred thousand people not only nodding their head at the monitor but also clicking purchase on some website.

I did not listen to the chart being announced, partly because my ridiculously hectic and stressful week has come to end and I have come home for Christmas, and when my mother told me she going to roast some parsnips in maple syrup to go with a rabbit stew, I collapsed into our sofa and began watching the Antiques’ Roadshow (it was a bloody good episode, let me tell you), other reasons for not listening was that I don’t have a wireless and and realplayer hasn’t spent enough time on the naughty step for me to update it to listen to the radio online.

But to know that realplayer required updating meant I did at least attempt to listen in to pub quiz question material in the making. As I tried to listen in I saw last weeks chart, and only really recognised Katy Perry as an artist. Being back home and for the first time in a while knowing I wont have to wake up at 6am for a few weeks I allowed myself see just who this person was. I had managed to go for several months without listening to I Kissed A Girl when apparently it was being played constantly on the radio, I was however tricked into seeing the Hot ‘n’ Cold video after someone linked me to it. In all I have no real opinion of Katy Perry, her music is catchy I guess, if you like that sort of Pop, which I don’t, if anything I have some negative feelings towards her because her songs are played ad nausea and for some accusations of homophobia. Now sometimes I like to wiki people or things that I wont watch or listen to see what has been put under Controversies, Katy Perry has, as I mentioned, been accused of singing homophobic lyrics and being misandric. The latter label I think deserves a nod of the head because most female artists are more likely to be accused of being misogynistic as opposed to the inverse. However, other than admitting when I have nothing else to do I look up irrelevant information, I went to the Katy Perry website, which had something that piqued my interest. It was a box, which didn’t say what was in it, or what was it’s point saying “you can look inside me if you like”. I am now plagued about what could possibly be in the box, excitement, disappointment, confusion or maybe a slightly smaller box?

When I say box, I say it metaphorically.

Call Katy at the following numbers:

US: (805) 754-2138
UK: +44 20 3355 0435
Spain: +34 91 187 8052
Italy: +39 06 6220 7204
France: +33 1 70 61 54 04

That’s the box. WHO WILL PICK UP THE PHONE? Were I to ring it would I get through to Miss Perry, or more likely will there be some sort of machine that takes my money to listen to her songs, or will it be a person trying to sell me her album, hell, maybe its a sex line? Or maybe there is someone vetting the callers and they might get allowed to speak to the person. Maybe its a tool to stop people harassing her, “hey, look!” says the internet “you just need to pick up the phone and you can speak to her” but.. how can it be so easy? Maybe it is a direct line to her but someone has said that if they simply put the number out there no one will be able to ring it, because the uncertainty and confusion around it is far too stressful… Because I definitely smell a trap, how can she be all over continental Europe, Blighty and the States?

Yes, I know it’s a marketing ploy, but I really hope its not…

Filed under: News, Alexandra Burke, Christmas #1, Jeff Buckley, Katy Perry, Leonard Cohen